Abacus Planning Group Inc. Trims Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,720 shares of the company’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PEP. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in PepsiCo by 15.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,016,000 after purchasing an additional 40,031 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in PepsiCo by 211.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 3.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 207,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,365,000 after purchasing an additional 6,334 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ PEP opened at $145.81 on Thursday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $199.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $149.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.60.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PEP. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.